Ok, a long shot and probably OT..

[erick10520]

Tourism is off at WDW because of heavy reliance on air travel coming into Orlando Int'l, Amtrak is having budgetary problems; why not create a Disney partnership with Amtrak and have select cities as boarding points headed into Orlando for WDW vacationers. Add a little pixie dust to the train Disney style and who knows?? I've taken Amtrak twice from Newark NJ to Dis and it was like 26 hours+ due to all the in between stops. Make it a NY to Orlando special with a few stops at major cities in between.. Just an idea..

 

[AnnaS]

Great idea! Even though I have never taken Amtrak before, I am also a little afraid, quite a few amtrak accidents - just wishing WDW was a lot closer and we would also then go down a few times a year like many other folks. We do take a few quick week-end trips but nothing compares to WDW.

 

[GEM]

They actually do this for some of the European trains headed into Disneyland Paris. There are certain cities in Europe you can board the "Disney" trains. We took one from London to DLP. There was a band playing Disney tunes at the London station while we waited to board and there were several characters on the train. Of course, people who weren't going to DLP could take the train, too. It was lots of fun!! Of course, train travel is a lot more popular in that part of the world.

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by erick10520
Tourism is off at WDW because of heavy reliance on air travel coming into Orlando Int'l, Amtrak is having budgetary problems; why not create a Disney partnership with Amtrak and have select cities as boarding points headed into Orlando for WDW vacationers. Add a little pixie dust to the train Disney style and who knows?? I've taken Amtrak twice from Newark NJ to Dis and it was like 26 hours+ due to all the in between stops. Make it a NY to Orlando special with a few stops at major cities in between.. Just an idea..

Amtrack has had budgetary problems for years.

That said...

You obviously haven't spent much time in the train stations on the East Coast. Most are full of vagrants, filthy and crowded with commuters. Personally, I wouldn't care if Mickey himself were there, NY Penn, Boston Back Bay, Philly 30th St., are simply disgusting, and I do'nt want to spend any extra time there.

Also, you are talking about people travelling to select cities to board their train. Where are these people going to park? Do you have any idea of how much it costs to park in NYC? NPhilly? DC? Boston? Sorry, nice try, but I do'nt see it working. Personally if I had to go that out of my way and then pay $20-50 per day for parking, I'd just drive. (Not to mention having to drive into those cities to begin with...)

Anne (Who is FLYING to WDW in a week!)

 

[Gillian]

Obviously, this would not be for for people who have to drive & park in the cities. But for people who can take local transportation or get a ride, it would be great!

As for the train stations being dirty & crowded, we wouldn't be spending a lot of time there. Penn Station, NYC is not the destination, WDW is! I take trains to & from NYC all the time, and it doesn't require hanging out at the train station.

Can't we have a little fun brainstorming here, without the negative attitude?

 

[ducklite]

Originally posted by Gillian
Obviously, this would not be for for people who have to drive & park in the cities. But for people who can take local transportation or get a ride, it would be great!

As for the train stations being dirty & crowded, we wouldn't be spending a lot of time there. Penn Station, NYC is not the destination, WDW is! I take trains to & from NYC all the time, and it doesn't require hanging out at the train station.

Can't we have a little fun brainstorming here, without the negative attitude?

Not being negative, just realistic. I commuted in and out of NYC through Penn for years, the Amtrak train to FL was almost always late. I can remember oodles of times seeing families with tons of luggage obviously headed to WDW camped out waiting and waiting, while transients and commuters walked by.

It's just so much easier to go to the airport, which is set up for long term parking, etc.

Yes, I coulkd take a cab from my house to a NJ Transit station, then take the train to NY Penn, but who wants to do that, and have to schlepp the luggage around on the commuter train, etc. Considering that I can fly out of EWR for the same ticket cost as it is to take Amtrak to Orlando, and the cost of parking for a week is the same as it would be for r/t cab fare to and from the nearest train station ($20 each way) plus three r/t tickets to NY Penn ($15+ each), it just wouldn't make economical sense. It takes a bite out of my vacation time, the trains are FAR less reliable then the air industry, and it's a lot more hassle.

Anne